This valley lies in Pendleton County, West Virginia. It extends
northward along the west foot of the Shenandoah mountain for about
eight miles, and is separated from the South Fork valley west of it by
Sweedlin mountain. It is the habitation of a good many families, is
exceedingly picturesque, and is in some respects beautiful.
The two brethren were called here to preach the funeral of old Brother
Nazlerode. His father had been a Hessian, and served under British
colors in the American Revolution. At the close of the war he, with
many others, declined returning to his native home in Hesse-Darmstadt
in Germany, and decided to stay in America. But this class of citizens
was not very welcome among the patriots of American liberty. They were
looked upon with a degree of opprobrium; and hence they sought homes
in the more remote and secluded valleys among the mountains. Brother
Nazlerode had died some time before. The preaching was at the house
where the old brother had lived.
_Sermon by Daniel Miller._
Brother Daniel Miller spoke first in the German language. He took for
his subject 1 Pet. 1:24, 25. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the
glory of man as the flower of grass: ... but the word of the Lord
endureth forever."
He spoke very beautifully and impressively on the short-lived
pleasures of earth. He said that the new birth and the new life, which
lift man to God and fit him for heaven, are not begotten of the
corruptible seed of man, but of God through the Word of his Truth,
which liveth and abideth forever. He pointed them to Jesus as the
"Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." He then, in a
very affectionate manner, exhorted all to accept the salvation offered
and walk in the way that our Lord has made plain in his Word.
Brother Kline followed and said: "Brother Daniel and I both felt moved
to pity when we considered the situation of these people. They have a
poor chance to hear the Gospel, and but few of them can read the
Bible. We closed the services suitably, and then went to friend Jacob
Wansturf's and spent the night."
MONDAY, April 13.--Brother Kline, in company with Brother Frederic
Kline, went to Brock's Gap on the yearly visit. He says: "We found
some of the members in a very poor condition. One sister, in
particular, moved my feelings deeply. Her husband is somewhat
dissipated and does not provide for his family as he should. She is
the mother of three small children; and, judging from their present
appearance, they have undergone a good deal of suffering for want of
food and clothing. None of them have any shoes; and the thin coverings
they have on are so patched and darned that one can hardly tell the
kind of goods they were originally made of.
"I inquired how they were off in the way of food. She replied that
they had about a peck of corn meal in the house and several bushels of
potatoes buried in the garden; and she reckoned they could do right
well till she could get some more washing and other work to do. I gave
that patient, uncomplaining sister three dollars out of my own pocket
money. 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' There is a day
coming when we shall more fully realize this truth than now."